Evika Silina
Prime Minister resigned after the rupture of the government coalition. The drones collided with an empty oil tank.
A prime minister and Latvia, Evika Silina, resigned this Thursday from office in the wake of the rupture of the government coalition that followed the impact of two Ukrainian drones lost in an energy infrastructure project.
“I announce my resignation from the post of Prime Minister”, announced Evika Silina at a press conference held today in Riga.
The political crisis began with the failures in protecting the airspace resulting from the explosion of a Ukrainian drone in the country, which had already led Evika Silina to request the resignation of her Defense Minister.
Os two Ukrainian drones, apparently under Russian electronic influence, they deviated from their route last weekend and entered Latvian airspace, where they caused a explosion to the collide with an empty oil tank in Rezekne, 60 kilometers from the Russian border.
Silina’s party, Nova Unity, blamed the then minister of Defense, the social democrat Andris Spruds, for the failure to intercept the drones and forced his resignation, while the Progressistas party, to which the now former Minister of Defense belongs, he reported a prime minister for not having informed them of his intention to remove him and for politicizing a military issue, discrediting the Armed Forces.
Faced with the prime minister’s demand, the co-president of the Progressives party, Andris Suvajevs, called for Evika Silina’s resignation.
“Either Evika Silina announces her resignation or Saeima [parlamento] put an end to all this with a motion of no confidence“, he told the press.
Suvajevs, candidate for the October legislative elections, also considered that the Prime Minister “overthrew her own Government” and became “unable to govern”, urging Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics to prepare consultations with the various parties for the appointment of a new prime minister.
Meanwhile, the other coalition partner stated that the Government “effectively entered into collapse”, as declared by its leader, Harijs Rokpelnis, and also called for the start of negotiations to form a new parliamentary majority.
With the withdrawal of support from Nova Unity partners, the government coalition – in power since 2023 – lost its majority on Wednesday in Latvia’s unicameral parliament.
The Latvian president had scheduled a meeting for Friday with all groups represented in the Latvian parliament to address the current political crisis.
